The Cat Owner’s Conundrum: What’s the Best Vacuum for Cat Litter?

When people think of cleaning up after a cat or dog, their first thought is usually shed hair. While pet hair is annoying and a major cause of allergies, it’s not the only mess your animals can make. If you have a cat, the litter from their box can easily spill and be tracked through the house. After the first time you step on a piece in bare feet, you’ll be looking up: what is the best vacuum for cat litter?

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The vacuums on the list below all have the suction power and accessories you’ll need to clean up cat litter and other common pet messes. As an added bonus, all of them are also very affordable. Read on for more details.

This model has had a long stretch as the best-selling vacuum cleaner on Amazon.com for a reason. It’s the go-to vacuum for many pet owners, eliminating the mess left by even heavy shedders with ease.

Features

For a pet owner, the air-powered hand tool that comes as an attachment for this model makes it arguably the best vacuum for cat litter. It has enough suction to pick up the larger fragments without multiple passes, and can even get litter that’s been ground into a rug or carpet. If your cats are shedding, too, there’s an upholstery brush for pulling out embedded hairs.

The versatility of this vacuum is one of its strongest points. It gives you superior performance on carpet, furniture, and hardwood, with a kickable switch to change from suction only, for hardwood, to a motorized brush roll for carpets, with five depth settings. It’s also easy to use and better on your back, both because it’s light-weight and because the foot controls reduce the need for bending over.

CONS

This one is marketed as being specifically for removing pet hair, but the truth is it’s a powerful machine that can help you clean up all of your pet’s messes.

Features

The Bissell Pet Hair Eraser was designed by pet owners to have all the features that pet parents have been dying for in a vacuum. The SmartSeal filtration system also includes a Febreeze odor eliminator, which both removes allergens from the air and makes sure your guests don’t smell your cat before they meet her.

The tools that come with this model are impressive, as well. The crevice tool has an LED light, letting you spot litter your cat may have tracked under the furniture. There’s also a TurboEraser tool for getting all the hair off the furniture and carpets, and with the tangle-free brush you won’t have to worry about it wrapping around the brush.

CONS

Another excellent option in the affordable and powerful category, the Pro Pet from Hoover is a bagless upright that makes cleaning up pet litter a breeze.

Features

The WindTunnel technology that’s used in this vacuum uses a three-channel suction process that picks up both the deep-down dirt and the stuff that’s on the surface. It’s this powerful suction that makes it perhaps the best vacuum for cat litter. It also uses a two-stage cyclone filtration system to keep the suction strong and prevent what you pick up from blowing back into the air.

While it is a corded vacuum, the 27-foot cord is long enough for the vast majority of rooms and the included extension wand gives you a reach of 12 feet. Other accessories that come with the vacuum are a Crevice Tool, a Pet Turbo Tool, and a Pet Upholstery Tool. With this combination, you can rid any surface of pet hair, cat litter, spilled food, or any other mess your furry friend leaves behind.

PROS

What we like:

Improved suction

Two-stage filtration

Long reach

Pet-specific tools

Automatically retractable cord

Durable

Affordable

CONS

As nice as it is to have a clean house, that doesn’t mean you always have time to do the work it takes to clean it—especially when you have pets. The Spotbot from Bissell gives you hands-free cleaning at a mid-range price that fits in any household.

Features

With the Spotbot deep cleaner, you can easily remove stains and spots from your carpet, furniture, or rugs without getting on your hands and knees to scrub it. This function also works well for removing ground-in litter. Simply place the vacuum on the spot you want to clean, turn it on, and let it do its work. The two brush settings give you a 3 minute or a 6 minute cycle, depending on the depth of the stain.

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The Spotbot is the most compact model on this list, as well, lightweight enough to carry one-handed and with a convenient handle for transporting it. The size belies the power of the machine, which uses a patented technique to force cleaning solution deep into the fibers of the carpet, removing even the toughest dirt and debris.

PROS

What we like:

Removes spots and stains

Lightweight and easy to carry

Hands-free operation

Powerful deep cleaning capability

Soft brushes won’t damage furniture or carpets

CONS

What we didn't like:

No built-in water heater

Only works for carpets

Small cleaning area (not intended for large rooms)

CONCLUSION

All four of the models above could be called the best vacuum for cat litter. Choosing the one that’s right for your home will depend on a number of factors. What kinds of floors you primarily need to be cleaning is a huge factor. An option with more thickness settings will be better if you have a variety of different floor types in your home. Rest assured that whichever one you’ll pick you’ll get a deep clean at a great price.

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